TUI withdraws its last based aircraft from London Luton Airport in favour of Gatwick

TUI Airways has announced it will remove its only aircraft based at London Luton Airport and reallocate it to London Gatwick by summer 2026, citing stronger passenger demand and the need to operate “in the most commercially and operationally effective way.”

While the move ends TUI’s own aircraft operations at Luton, the company stressed it remains committed to the airport, where its UK headquarters and engineering hangar are located. TUI will continue to sell holidays departing from Luton using partner airlines, primarily easyJet and Ryanair, and in some cases, customers may be rebooked to alternative departure airports.

One TUI service to Palma de Mallorca will continue to make a stop at Luton on both outbound and inbound legs to collect or drop off passengers. Consultation is ongoing with affected cabin crew, who are being offered relocation to other bases or redundancy. Staff at TUI’s UK headquarters in Luton are not affected by the change.

The decision marks another step away from Luton as an operating base for TUI’s airline activities, despite the airport’s historic significance to the group. Britannia Airways—later rebranded as Thomsonfly and now part of TUI—was founded in Luton in 1961 and went on to become the world’s largest holiday airline.